I found a dead roof rat in our chicken's coop last winter - but I wasn't sure how it died. Her coop mate died last winter, so I think she thinks anything that moves is part of her flock. Last Thursday - the chicken - which now free ranges in a backyard - was tossing a dead grey bird (Junco?) up in the air. At first I though it was a mouse. I didn't see either of the murders. Is this typical hen behavior? Maybe she picked up some bad habits from the neighbor cats, which often come by to visit and hang out. I saw her intimidate a dog off his bone once (To be sure the dog had been trained to fear chickens.) This is a 14month old Buff - a good layer 5 to 6 eggs a week.
My little bantam Leghorns would routinely kill sparrows that became trapped in their run. I wouldn't call it murder, just predation.
I always thought chickens were pretty opportunistic and will eat what ever they could catch. I know our girls spend a great deal of time last winter playing keep-away with a mouse one of them had chased down and killed. Our Juvie Easter Eggers found a snake that got tangled in their netting this summer and pecked it to death (didn't eat it, but left it a nice surprise for Mom when she went out to feed them). I do have a couple of pretty aggressive females who will fight each other like the roosters do.
